


Greatest Wish

by Rosebeth



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Birthday, F/M, Family Fluff, Fluff, Post-Endgame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-21
Updated: 2018-08-21
Packaged: 2019-06-30 10:28:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15749844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosebeth/pseuds/Rosebeth
Summary: Tom gives B'Elanna a gift on Miral's twelfth birthday.   A sweet fluffy story.





	Greatest Wish

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first piece I've written in a very long time, but Tom and B'Elanna inspired me.

B’Elanna entered their quarters and laughed when she saw the PADD in the middle of the coffee table.   She sighed as she sat on the sofa and reached for the PADD, it had been a long day celebrating Miral’s 12th birthday.  They had been run ragged and now finally Miral was asleep and her husband Tom was in his office catching up on the work he missed today.  

She turned on the PADD and gasped at what she saw there.  Before settling in to read, she made herself a tea that she had been introduced to years ago and found calming, she curled up on the couch and opened the document that had been waiting for her.

_My B’Elanna,_

_T_ _oday, our beautiful daughter turned 12.  Part of me, just can’t believe that 12 years have passed, it seems like it was just yesterday when the Doctor was summoning me to Sickbay and I held Miral for the first time._

_I never told you this, but I spent your entire pregnancy imagining what life with Miral would be like.   I imagined teaching her to swim and to dance, teaching her to fly and sail.  I imagined moments of pure love and pure silliness.  Then you put her in my arms, and everything I imagined vanished.  I knew in that moment that she, like her parents, would forge her own journey, and it was our job to assist her and guide her, but never direct her.  Isn’t that the very thing I was angry at my own father for?_

  _In those first moments, I felt a rush of other emotions.  I felt a love so powerful I could literally feel my heart in my chest swell with the intensity of it.  I felt something else too,  I felt sad and hurt that you didn’t have faith in me.  That when you compared me to your father, you found enough there to believe that I would behave in the same manner he did. Please understand that I let go of those feelings long ago, and I’m not trying to dredge up an old argument, nor am I trying to start a new one.  I want you to understand why I chose this particular birthday to share this letter with you._

  _I want to reassure you, by telling you what I see when I look at Miral.  I see a beautiful young woman (where did my little girl go?) who is intelligent and caring._

  _I see someone full of passion and a desire to help others, someone who is not afraid to stand up for she believes is right.  She gets that from you._

  _I see someone who loves to laugh and finds joy in the smallest things._

  _I see the woman she will become.  The beautiful, passionate woman who will do amazing things, no matter what she chooses to do in her life._

  _Thank you B’Elanna, thank you for our amazing daughter._

  _You should know that this isn’t the only letter I’ve written today, I wrote one for Miral as well.  Actually, she has a whole collection of letters now.  I’ve written her one every year, starting just after she was born.  I thought about writing to her every day, but after a couple of days that just seemed silly.  I know I’m the King of Silliness, but it was even too much for me, so I settled on her birthday._

  _I didn’t set out to keep it a secret from you, it just worked out that way, and then it was something special just between me and Miral.  She knows that someday you may ask her about them._

  _B’Elanna, never in my life did I imagine this kind of happiness for myself.  My friends, my sisters, of course, but never me.  When I was young, I believed I was destined to be my father’s clone, then after Caldik Prime I saw no future for myself.  I didn’t bother looking because I was sure I’d die young, putting my father out of his misery.  Then I met you, and you stole my heart and turned my world upside down.  I know I don’t say it enough, but that doesn’t mean I don’t feel it._

  _I love you, both of you.  I love you so much._

  _Yours,_

_Tom_

  _P.S. I realize I got a bit mushy, but this particular day brings it out in me._

 He didn’t know what he expected when he entered their quarters, but it certainly wasn’t seeing his wife reading his letter with tears streaming down her face.  “Oh, B’Elanna.”

 He rushed to her side, and wrapped his arms around her pulling her close as she clutched the PADD to her chest.  He stroked her hair as he whispered apologies.  After several minutes, he pulled away, just enough to look at her face, and wiped her tears away.  

 “I’m so sorry. I never should”

 “Tom,” she whispered touching her finger to his lips, “be quiet.”

 He kissed her finger and then took her hand and entwined their fingers.  

 “Please don’t feel that you need to apologize.”  

 “But you’re crying.”

 “I am, but not for the reason you think. This,” nodding towards the PADD, “is beautiful.  How could I be upset that my daughter’s father loves her unconditionally, and he found a way to express that love to her.  She will read and re-read these letters and she will never doubt in your love for her.  That is all I have ever wanted.”

 He leaned forward and kissed her softly.  “You are very wise.”  

 He kissed her again.  As their kisses became more intense she unfolded herself from Tom’s arms.  She stood and silently offered her hand, which he didn’t hesitate to accept.  As he stood he used his free hand to pull her close and begin kissing her again.  Laughing B’Elanna turned and led him to their bed.

 B’Elanna woke the following morning to find the wrong Paris next to her.  “Where is your father?”

 “Working.”

 B’Elanna looked seriously at her daughter.  Just as Miral was stating to squirm she laughed, and lightening quick grabbed Miral, pulled her close and tickled her until laughter turned to tears.

 “Mama, you’re mean.” Miral emphasized her words by sticking her tongue out.  B’Elanna couldn’t help but laugh.  

 “Twelve years and one day.  It’s all over now, no time for such silliness.”

 When Miral didn’t respond, B’Elanna sensed there was more to this visit other than early morning tickles.  She pulled herself up and sat leaning against the headboard.  She held her arm out and Miral scrambled to cuddle in a way that she hadn’t since she was little.  B’Elanna kissed her head, stroked her hair, and waited.

 Softly she said, “Daddy says you know about our letters”

 “Mm hmm”

 “You’re not mad?”

 “Why would I be mad?”

 Miral’s head jerked at that response and searched her mother’s face for any hint of anger, finding none Miral cuddled back into her mother’s embrace.  Long minutes passed before she spoke again.

 “Do you want to read Daddy’s letters?”

 “Do you want to share them?”  B’Elanna felt more than saw Miral’s nod,  “Then, I would like that very much.”

 Miral reached for the top PADD she had left on her father’s bedside table and turned it on.  When she was settled back in her mother’s embrace she began to read.

 -30-


End file.
